Founders of color have never had an easy entrepreneurial journey, and in today’s economic climate, securing venture capital (VC) funding is challenging for all brands, especially for Black founders. According to Crunchbase, venture funding to Black-founded US start-ups last year totaled only $705 million—marking the first time since 2016 that the figure failed to reach $1 billion. While all start-ups are experiencing difficulties in raising capital, Black-founded start-ups are disproportionately impacted. Overall, venture dollars in the US fell 37% last year, but funding to Black-founded start-ups dropped by 71%.In the face of such disappointing statistics, Kim Lewis, CEO and co-founder of CurlMix and 4C Only, a clean beauty brand for curly hair, decided to take matters into her own hands—or rather, her customers' hands. Lewis raised $1.5 million in her most recent crowdfunding campaign held on Wefunder. The average investment amount was between $600 and $700. This is CurlMix’s second round raised via crowdfunding. During CurlMix’s first crowdfunding campaign in 2021, the brand brought in $1 million in four hours, with most of the money being raised within the first week of the campaign. After five months, CurlMix raised $4.5 million from nearly 7,000 investors. CurlMix’s enthusiastic investors left 3,962 comments on the campaign, breaking a Wefunder record.“It’s important to me to show my children I’m supporting businesses designed for them,” one investor comment reads.